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Deuteronomy 12 · a question people ask

"You shall not do all the things that we do here today" (12:8). Is Moses rebuking Israel's worship in the wilderness?

Interpretation

Moses includes himself: "all the things that we do here today, every man whatever is right in his own eyes" (12:8). The next verse gives a reason: "for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the LORD your God gives you" (12:9). Christians read 12:8 in two main ways. Both agree on what Israel is to do in the land: "there you shall bring all that I command you" (12:11).

How Christians read it

Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.

Not yet settled

Those who hold this view read 12:9 as the whole reason: Israel had not yet come "to the rest and to the inheritance" (12:9), so worship could not yet be gathered to one place. They note that Moses says "we", counting himself in (12:8), and read the verse as describing how things were on the road, not as an accusation.

Deuteronomy 12:8-10

A rebuke

Those who hold this view note that "every man whatever is right in his own eyes" (12:8) is set against "that which is right in the LORD’s eyes" (12:25). They point to what Leviticus says of the wilderness, "They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols" (Leviticus 17:7), and to Amos: "Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel?" (Amos 5:25), which Stephen quotes (Acts 7:42). They read 12:8 as naming wrong worship in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy 12:25 · Leviticus 17:7 · Amos 5:25-26 · Acts 7:42-43

The verses

“You shall not do all the things that we do here today, every man whatever is right in his own eyes; for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the LORD your God gives you.”
Deuteronomy 12:8-9 · World English Bible
“then it shall happen that to the place which the LORD your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to the LORD.”
Deuteronomy 12:11 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Deuteronomy 12

Deuteronomy 12: The place he will choose

Deuteronomy never names the place the LORD will choose; it names who goes there: sons, daughters, servants and the Levite, to eat and rejoice before him (12:12, 12:18). And the word for "soul" in "the desire of your soul" (12:15) is the word for "life" in "the blood is the life" (12:23).

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Last reviewed September 26, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions